Teacher Bag

Isn't this cute?!  While I was in Kansas, my water spilled ALL over the inside of my bag.  I was so sad and although it wasn't ruined, I was determined to get this bag I have always wanted!!  I feel as though I am now "official"!!

Old Oak 619 #2

This is our study!  We have all four desks in one room as well as all four of our dressers.  Andrea and Brittany have their closets in this room.  It is where we will all spend most of our time!! 

This is our bedroom.  We have all four beds bunked, 2 and 2.  I am on the top bunk on the right side.  Marisa has her closet in this room!  I have a feeling we wont be in there too long!

This is our family room, kitchen, and dining room.  We have a nice sized kitchen/dining room this year which will be nice for those who cook!   Our family room is HUGE!! We have a great big tv with a great big wrap around couch!  It is a lovely place to go and relax!

This is our bathroom.  It is at least twice the size of last years!!  The shower head is REALLY low though, its for little people!!

Finally, this is our pantry.  It is right when you walk in the door to our apartment.  It is a HUGE walk in closet... also the closet for my clothes!!  (Its the benefit of moving in last!!)  Its okay, I could live out of my car for 3 months if i had to!

It looks as if it is going to be a fun year!  All my roommates are very nice and seem pretty easy going!! It should be a great last semester here at Olivet (even with my 27 credit hours!!)

Carry On Bag

I had 10 boxes of 10 markers (yes, that is 100 markers), 10 packs of 6 erasers (yep, 60 erasers), and 2 8-pocket nylon card storer (?)... When I was going through security, they scanned my bag 6 times thinking "Why in the world does this kid have 100 markers?!"  Yes, my bag was VERY heavy!! :-)  What I do for my mom!!

Dawson's Dynamos

{Left to right, top to bottom}

{{Jimmy, Sydney, Chance, Nina, Sam, Sarah, Savannah, Sean, Mitch, Megan, Mallory, Jocilyn, Jensen, Jennifer, Emma, Derke, Caitlyn, Brian, Ben, and Antonio}}

This is my class I will be student teaching with!! Aren't they adorable!?  I am SO excited :-)

Teacher and Class

This is my host teacher, Mrs. Dawson!  I am so excited to work with her!  She has been teaching for 31 years and has lots of great ideas!  She is very fun and does lots of interactive activities with the students. I cant wait to learn from her!

This is my class!  I will be working with these 21 adorable students for 16 weeks starting in January!  I am so excited to get to know these kids and help prepare them for 6th grade!!

Ms. Dawson's Classroom

This is the classroom I will be spending many hours come January!  Over this past week, I have already spend many hours helping set up this wonderful classroom!  So excited!! :-)

Christa McAuliffe Elementary School

Christa McAuliffe Elementary School is where I will be doing my Student Teaching starting in January! It is such a beautiful school.  It is about 20 years old, but you would NEVER know!  They have a 'pod' set up to accommodate all the teachers with a supply room in the middle.  They have ALL of the technology you could imagine in every single classroom!!  Outside, they have 4 different playground sets along with huge fields for kickball, soccer, baseball, etc.  The kids love it!  On the perimeter of one side, they have gardens that the students take care of.  They have the Principals garden (grow his favorite things), pizza garden (grow pizza toppings), etc.  It is such a great way to teach children responsibility, plant life, etc! 

Their theme is "Reach for the Stars" because of the Astronaut, Christa McAuliffe

Kansas

To whoever thinks that Kansas is flat with corn fields everywhere... 4 different roads in Kansas that are CLEARLY not flat with corn!! :-)

Maggie

This is little Maggie Moo, Aunt Kay and Uncle Deans dog.  She is so sweet!! It is so fun to be around a dog again! I forgot how much life they bring to a house!  Maggie gets so hyper and just laps the house, until you get in her way!! Also, Maggie hates to have her paws touched, so I would grab them and just hold on and she would go nuts!! She would try to bite me and when I didn't let go, she bit herself!!  She is funny!

Crate and Barrel

Aunt Kay works at Crate and Barrel in Kansas and works with the design team.  She got to do two displays which turned out BEAUTIFUL!!  She is so talented!! She even wrote the sign above the little round table display!  We will have tons of fun come December!!

Peach Pie

Mom and I had an idea to make a Peach custard pie . . . this is how it turned out!  You'll just have to trust me when I say it tasted WAY better than it looked!  While we were eating pie, Dad decided to make some coffee.  Lets just say that didn't turn out well either!  The platter in front of the coffee stuff didn't survive the move.  Mom was very sad!  She just looked at it . . .  After the grieving session was over, we went to Tropical Smoothie Cafe for a wonderful summer treat!  That made her feel better!  While I was in Kansas, Aunt Kay and I looked high and low for a replacement platter . . . no such luck!

Mamma Mia

For my moms birthday, I got her tickets to our favorite Broadway show. . . Mamma Mia!  Gay got Aunt Kathy tickets for Mothers Day and we got Mrs. Rockwell to join us!  Mamma Mia came to Grand Rapids during the week, so we decided to go Saturday, Aug 2.  It was SUCH a great time!  Mrs. Rockwell, mom and I met Aunt Kathy and Gay in Lansing at the outdoor mall and ate a wonderful lunch at Bravo!  It was delicious!!  We then continued our drive to Grand Rapids just in time to get in our seats take a few pictures then enjoy the play.  It was such a FANTASTIC cast!  It was the best production of Mamma Mia I have seen... and trust me, I have seen it enough to know!!  After the play came to an end ( :-( ) we all went to the bathroom and took pictures.  We were about the last people in the theatre when Mrs. Rockwell said, "Thats Pepper" (a character in the play)!  We were SO excited and made Mrs. Rockwell go ask him. . . when he said it was him, she asked him to come talk to us!  He was such a nice guy . . .so normal and kind!  I felt like I was meeting a superstar!!  The same cast is going to Chicago in September, so we are planning on going again!! After the play, we went to an authentic Mexican place for dinner and then headed home for the night, of course jamming to the soundtrack (which is about wore out!!)

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Cedar Point

Finally arriving to Cedar Point!!  Adam and I left my house at 8am to arrive at Cedar Point by 11!  We were both so excited to ride all the rides and enjoy the beautiful day in Sandusky, Ohio.

Adam, our tickets, our food ( :-) ), and us getting ready to head out!

#1- Magnum

We decided to start our day with something small, but thrilling. . . lots of fun and got us warmed up!

#2- Top Thrill Dragster

Adam and I were in line for a while and started to get nervous (even though I had already been on it 4 times) but it was GREAT!! 17 seconds total. . . 0-120 mph in under 3 seconds and goes straight up and down 1/2 mile into the sky!  

#3- Mean Streak

Very jerky, but no line!!

Cedar Point

#4- Gemeni

Fun ride, real short line!  Our blue car won the race, too!

#5- Millenium Force

Awesome ride!  Just a great ride all in all

#6- Power Tower

Short line and just a time filler really!

#7- Raptor

Sweet ride . . . lots of fun kicking the sky!

#8- MaXair

Good lesson of faith. . . looking directly at the ground while very high in the air, held in by a strap!

Cedar Point

#9 - Wicked Twister

Fun ride. . . short line!!

#10- Disaster Transport

Inside ride ~ wanted a break from the sun!

#11- Maverick

Brand new ride, long line but AWESOME

#12- Top Thrill Dragster

Had to do it again!

#13- Millenium Force

So fun at night, but when we got done, all the workers were laughing at us because we had gnats ALL over us. . . up our arms, hair, eyebrows, shirt, etc!!

What a F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C day!!  So much fun :-)